


Bittersweet

by NeoSilver



Category: Alien: Isolation (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Not A Fix-It, Not What It Looks Like, Not really an AU, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-13
Updated: 2014-11-13
Packaged: 2018-02-25 05:22:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2610026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeoSilver/pseuds/NeoSilver
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nina Taylor awakens, finding to her surprise that Amanda Ripley saved her from the collapsing Anesidora.  After all, she should have died there, right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bittersweet

She had panicked. Ripley's shout about the ship “tearing itself apart” had made her fear rise sharply, the deck shuddering beneath her feet as though a god's hammer struck it muddled her mind. She should have run, but her legs wouldn't comply.

 

The next thing she knew, she was airborne, the conduit behind her erupting as the heat and electricity cooked off the explosive elements leaking from the reactor proper. She felt herself hit something, hit hard. Pain consumed her world, and she blacked out. Somewhere distant, she heard Amanda Ripley's heart-rent cry.

 

The world came back to her, slowly. She wasn't where she had been; her world was pain, but it wasn't in front of a fusion reactor inside some thrice-damned Company ship. She closed her eyes again. Just needed a moment to rest.

 

“Taylor?”

 

Taylor shook her head slowly. She was so worn out. Battered, tired from her ordeal. She just wanted to sleep.

 

“Taylor?” The voice asked again, more insistent this time. Taylor opened her eyes, barely, looking around. She really didn't want to deal with anything. Just rest. She'd been running in a blind panic since the Torrens had arrived at Sevastapol, since the accident trying to board.

 

“Nina?”

 

Taylor opened her eyes, finding herself almost nose-to-nose with Amanda Ripley. She felt heat rise to her cheeks, and gulped. “I'm okay!” she squeaked. Amanda stared for a moment longer, and then leaned back.

 

“Finally. I was worried you weren't going to wake up.”

 

Taylor took a long moment, looking Amanda over. “Ripley. I...” Taylor paused for a moment to take a deep breath. “Thank you. For coming and getting me.”

 

“It wasn't that far out of my way. And 'Amanda' will do,” Ripley replied, a teasing smile playing over her lips. “After all, you've probably got some strapping man waiting for you back on Earth.”

 

“No! No, I don't.” Taylor forced herself to her feet. She swayed, unsteady. Ripley reached out, and Taylor gratefully accepted the other woman's help. “I, um, I prefer women.”

 

“Oh,” came the surprised reply, and Taylor's arm pressed against the shuttle's chair as Ripley's support dropped away. “Oh! You're not-”

 

“NO! No! Not n-” Taylor swallowed, took a deep breath. “That would be really impulsive. Too impulsive for my taste.”

 

“Oh, thank god,” Ripley said, returning to support Taylor. She gently led Taylor aft, towards the hypersleep capsules. They'd only gone a few steps when Taylor's legs gave out. Taylor hit the deck, hard.

 

Ripley was at her side in an instant. “Nina?”

 

“Guess that explosion did more than I thought.” Taylor said, trying to put on a brave face. “Just need to rest,” she added, when Ripley's expression indicated she didn't believe Taylor in the least.

 

“Not long, okay?” Ripley said firmly. “It's just a shuttle. We don't have the supplies to be awake long.”

 

Taylor nodded in agreement, pushing herself to a sitting position. Her head was ringing, the sharp notes of the Anesidora's emergency siren. She took a deep breath, looking up to the front of the escape shuttle. Silently, she began to count the sparks in the black night before her.

 

For a moment, Taylor and Ripley sat silently. Taylor finally spoke. “Amanda? If it's okay, when we get to Earth, I want to treat you to dinner.”

 

“Like a date?” Ripley asked.

 

“Not a date!” Taylor protested. “You saved my life. Dinner is the least I can do.”

 

Ripley leaned in front of her, pouting mockingly. “What, am I not pretty enough?”

 

“Pretty. Smart. Amazing. Just...” Another deep breath as that damn ringing surged in her head again, “I don't want to start a relationship just because you rescued me. I want a relationship with meaning!”

 

“How are you going to get that if you don't try?” Amanda teased.

 

“Fine! Amanda Ripley, will you go on a date with me when we get back to Earth?” Taylor asked, forcing an angry look as she asked Ripley the one question she'd been going out of her way to ask.

 

“I don't see why we can't try one date,” Ripley said, grinning almost maniacally.

 

“Okay,” Taylor said softly, slouching over. She put her head on Ripley's shoulder. Ripley put an arm around her. In the warmth of Ripley's presence, she was very aware of every ache and bruise. Somehow, that awareness made the alarm ringing in her skull that much sharper.

 

She slouched over, fell really, into Ripley's lap.

 

“Nina?” Ripley asked in panic.

 

“I'm fine. Just need to rest,” Taylor whispered. She felt Ripley wrap her arms around her. “Put me in cryo if I fall asleep?”

 

“Yeah,” Ripley whispered in return.

 

“Thanks.” Taylor silently counted the stars again. Pain dripped back into her world, and no matter what the hellish whooping of the siren wouldn't stop. She felt so heavy, she just had to rest. And Ripley had promised to put her in hypersleep if she dozed off, hadn't she?

 

Taylor closed her eyes, breathed deep. Smelt the fabric of Ripley's battered jumpsuit, felt the warmth of her arms holding her. It all seemed so perfect.

 

Her pain faded, the siren quited, and silenced. The only thing left in her world was the warmth of Amanda Ripley. Clinging to that warmth as she sank, Nina Taylor exhaled.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Humor me; I've yet to play Isolation for myself.
> 
> I've seen let's plays, sure, watched people stream it, but it's not the same experience as playing it. So if Taylor and Ripley are hilariously out of character (And I'm not beyond admitting that they are), do forgive me that. Mind you, the circumstances also have a bit to do with that...
> 
> I really love the character of Nina Taylor in Alien Isolation. She's the one WeyYu character in the franchise to display common sense. I'd been toying with the idea of writing a Taylor/Ripley fic for a few days now, toying with various "want-of-a-nail" generated AU ideas; at one point reviving a Riverworld-eqsue universe idea I'd toyed with for another project years ago. After re-watching Taylor's death scene, I had another idea.
> 
> Thus, Bittersweet came into being. The title fits, at least to me, for what I was aiming for. (I'm not spoiling my own story. Sorry.)
> 
> At any rate, thanks for taking the time to read this. My first fic in the Alien franchise, and my first fic here on the archive. Leave a comment, if you want.  
> -NeoSilver


End file.
